The Estonian drove an absolutely spectacular Saturday at Rally Monte Carlo, climbing to fourth place overall.
Tänak dominated the afternoon loop, clocking three consecutive fastest stage times to end the day.
Tänak also made significant gains on his teammate Adrien Fourmaux, who is in third, and Toyota’s Elfyn Evans in second. Tänak is now just 2.5 seconds behind Fourmaux, with a gap of 27.1 seconds to the leader.
“We spent too much time adjusting setups. I didn’t get any mileage with slick tyres. They didn’t work for me initially, but now they’ve started to click, and we’ve found a good rhythm,” Tänak commented.
On the final stage of the evening, Tänak beat Evans by two seconds and Sebastien Ogier, who set only the fifth-fastest time, by 6.8 seconds.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä also struggled again. He was 6.8 seconds slower than Tänak’s benchmark and seemed perplexed by his own performance.
“I find myself pretty slow. I have no answers. I don’t know what I could do,” Rovanperä said gloomily.
Ogier leads the rally heading into the overnight break with a 20.3-second advantage over his teammate Evans. Fourmaux, in third, is now 24.6 seconds off the lead.
Rovanperä remains 55 seconds behind the leader. Without mistakes from the front-runners, the Finn is unlikely to contend for top positions in Monte Carlo.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari ended the day with the eighth-fastest stage time, finishing nearly eight seconds behind Tänak’s best. Overall, the Finn is in seventh place, over four minutes adrift of the leader.
Rally Monte Carlo concludes tomorrow, Sunday, with three stages remaining on the schedule.
Rally Monte-Carlo standings after SS15/18:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 2:42:48.2 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +20.3 |
| 3. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +24.6 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +27.1 |
| 5. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +55.0 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:43.7 |
| 7. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +4:09.9 |
| 8. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +5:17.5 |
| 9. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +8:25.4 |
Itinerary, Rally Monte-Carlo (CET):
Wednesday 22.1.
16.01 Shakedown: Route de la Garde (3,28 km)
Thursday 23.1.
18.05 SS1: Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante 1 (19.01 km)
19.53 SS2: Faucon-du-Caire / Bréziers (21.18 km)
21.06 SS3: Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus 1 (13.97 km)
Friday 24.1.
09.31 SS4: Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne 1 (18.68 km)
10.34 SS5: Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 1 (16.68 km) *CANCELLED
11.42 SS6: La Bréole / Selonnet 1 (18.31 km)
15.23 SS7: Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne 2 (18.68 km)
16.26 SS8: Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 2 (16.68 km)
17.34 SS9: La Bréole / Selonnet 2 (18.31 km)
Saturday 25.1.
08.59 SS10: La Motte-Chalancon / Saint-Nazaire 1 (27.00 km)
10.05 SS11: Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 1 (20.85 km)
11.08 SS12: La Bâtie-des-Fonts / Aspremont 1 (15.48 km)
14.59 SS13: La Motte-Chalancon / Saint-Nazaire 2 (27.00 km)
16.05 SS14: Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 2 (15.48 km)
17.08 SS15: La Bâtie-des-Fonts / Aspremont 2 (17.85 km)
Sunday 26.1.
06.39 SS16: Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus 2 (13.97 km)
08.32 SS17: Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante 2 (19.01 km)
12.15 SS18: La Bollène-Vésubie / Peïra-Cava (17.92 km) *Power Stage
